Can we afford a baby?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-20-2009
Can we afford a baby?
5
Wed, 05-20-2009 - 8:52am
My

peace-1.jpg peace image by cooleo1995

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2008
Wed, 05-20-2009 - 9:40am

No one can answer that for you, which I am sure you know.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-29-2008
Wed, 05-20-2009 - 9:41am

No, money isn't everything.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-03-2006
Wed, 05-20-2009 - 9:42am
I can tell you that having a baby when you are not financially secure can be very stressful. When we had our baby we lived in a large 2 bedroom apartment-so that wasn't an issue for us. However, we did not prepare for my maternity leave and living off of DH's salary was not possible. That is when we racked up our debt-trying to make ends meet. 2 years later we both have good jobs and are paying off our debt and planning on buying a house. The stress of the added expenses of a baby and loss of work pay really took a toll on our marriage. We have decided that we will NOT have another baby until we are in a house, can leave comfortably on just DH's income and have saved up at least 3 months of expenses to cover maternity leave. I can't tell you what to do but if I were you I would wait. No, money is not everything but when you don't have enough of it it can really cause a lot of damage.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2009
Wed, 05-20-2009 - 4:50pm

No, money is not everything, and I understand what you said about having a great upbringing even though your parents were not well to do.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-16-1999
Wed, 05-20-2009 - 7:42pm
As OP have stated this is a decision only you can make.